Looking at the sky through a telescope is a lot like reading—you need to use your imagination to complete the picture. That bright pale orb? That’s the planet Jupiter, large enough to swallow a dozen Earths and home to the largest hurricane in the solar system. That ghostly smoke ring? That’s a star exploding—a cataclysm that must have destroyed its planets and that awaits us in less than a billion years. And that fuzzy patch of oval light? Yes, that patch of light is a galaxy!

Nothing in the sky stretches our mind quite like a galaxy. A hundred-thousand light-years across, yet so far away that all we see is a smudge. Its billions of stars spin silently away, out of sight and out of mind to approximately 100% of the world’s population. Seeing a galaxy is the closest we will ever get to grasping the vastness of the universe.

So how can I see a galaxy?

More...

Download 0.99c here.

As always, the Version History page has a full list of changes.

Download 0.99b here.

Download 0.99a here.

Eridani and the Korolov Shipping Corporation

The changes in version 0.99 start in Eridani itself. The Centauri warlords may not threaten the central stations of the metropolis, but the lesser stations are not so lucky. Help them to contain the threat of the warlords and they may help you in return. But watch out for Arco Vaughn! The warlord commander will not surrender without a fight.

Beyond Eridani you can look forward to enhanced Korolov missions. Escort six different kinds of freighters, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. Be careful not to take on a mission that you cannot handle—escorting valuable cargo may pay more, but it also attracts more attention from the Charon pirates. And if you think killing Corsairs is all you have to worry about, wait until you run into a Charon frigate—only the best will survive that encounter.

Exploding Stations and Hardened Missiles

Version 0.99 also has many game balance changes, including support for exploding stations (thanks, digdug!). With this change, sitting on top of a station to destroy it may be harmful to your health. Instead, keep your distance and see if you can eliminate some enemy ships when the station finally blows.

Another enhancement adds hit points to missiles. Don't you hate it when your expensive XM900 missile gets destroyed by a stray laser shot? Now these missiles are a little harder to kill.

The Huari Empire and the Sung Slavers

A hundred and fifty years ago the Huari Empire ruled the area known as the Ungoverned Territories. But the Sung Slavers, wielding their formidable technology, invaded Huari space and nearly exterminated their culture. Now the Huari brood inside of their massive fortresses, suspicious of everyone who approaches. But through it all, the Huari remain hopeful that one day they will reconquer their worlds. Their priests foretell a time when a stranger will appear and help the Huari to defeat the Sung and rebuild their proud culture.

And Much More

As always, there are a few small surprises in this version that you'll have to discover for yourself. And as always, there are lots of improvements to the modding system. It's been a long time coming, but 0.99 is ready for download and ready to play!

Download Version 0.99
Read the List of New Modding Features
Read the Complete List of Changes

For the last two years I've been in a great team at Microsoft working on a new product. Not every team in Microsoft, never mind the industry, gets to work on something brand new. I've had the luck and privilege to work on a couple of v1 projects, including Chron X and Groove, and for me, the most exhilarating and the most nerve wracking moment is when the product first launches.

Today, at the Web 2.0 conference, we are launching a technology preview of Live Mesh, a new software and services product that (we hope) will simplify your digital life by "meshing" your computing devices so they work better together.

It's been a long two years, and the team has gone through many challenging points in the development of this new product. There were some times, to be honest, when some people wondered whether we would ever release anything. Whatever else happens, whatever the ultimate fate of Live Mesh, I am happy and proud to say that our product has shipped.

There are already some good links about Live Mesh:

You can learn about the product at www.mesh.com. This is a technology preview and invites are limited. If you're really interested, let me know and I might be able to get you an invitation.

The New York Times talk about Live Mesh and Ray's role in the generically named article, Microsoft Reveal a Web-Based Software System.

Charles Cooper puts Live Mesh in context of other projects from Ray and from Microsoft: Peering through Ozzie's Mesh.

And since this is my web site, I don't feel bad about plugging the video that Noah Edelstein and I did for Channel 10: Hands on with Live Mesh.

Tags: LiveMesh

RGCD, the UK-based retro gaming discmag has just published a review of Transcendence.

"Since those halcyon days of home computing I've been fruitlessly searching for a game that successfully combines the free-roaming rogue-like nature of Frontier with the simple, lively and enjoyable 2D universe of [Star Control II]. Finally, and thanks to the efforts of George Moromisato, I think I've found it in Transcendence."

Transcendence Review at RGCD.

I took this image more than a year ago, but I didn't have a chance to process it until now.

The Astrotourist: M27